246 research outputs found
"Cultural additivity" and how the values and norms of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism co-exist, interact, and influence Vietnamese society: A Bayesian analysis of long-standing folktales, using R and Stan
Every year, the Vietnamese people reportedly burned about 50,000 tons of joss
papers, which took the form of not only bank notes, but iPhones, cars, clothes,
even housekeepers, in hope of pleasing the dead. The practice was mistakenly
attributed to traditional Buddhist teachings but originated in fact from China,
which most Vietnamese were not aware of. In other aspects of life, there were
many similar examples of Vietnamese so ready and comfortable with adding new
norms, values, and beliefs, even contradictory ones, to their culture. This
phenomenon, dubbed "cultural additivity", prompted us to study the
co-existence, interaction, and influences among core values and norms of the
Three Teachings--Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism--as shown through
Vietnamese folktales. By applying Bayesian logistic regression, we evaluated
the possibility of whether the key message of a story was dominated by a
religion (dependent variables), as affected by the appearance of values and
anti-values pertaining to the Three Teachings in the story (independent
variables).Comment: 8 figures, 35 page
Microscopic study of the isoscalar giant resonances in 208Pb induced by inelastic alpha scattering
The energetic beam of (spin and isospin zero) -particles remains a
very efficient probe for the nuclear isoscalar giant resonances. In the present
work, a microscopic folding model study of the isoscalar giant resonances in
Pb induced by inelastic \aPb scattering at and 386
MeV has been performed using the (complex) CDM3Y6 interaction and nuclear
transition densities given by both the collective model and Random Phase
Approximation (RPA) approach. The fractions of energy weighted sum rule around
the main peaks of the isoscalar monopole, dipole and quadrupole giant
resonances were probed in the Distorted Wave Born Approximation analysis of
inelastic \aPb scattering using the double-folded form factors given by
different choices of the nuclear transition densities. The energy distribution
of the and strengths given by the multipole decomposition
{analyses} of the \aap data under study are compared with those predicted by
the RPA calculation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nuclear Physics
Mainstreaming Grassroots Adaptation and Building Climate Resilient Agriculture in SAT Vietnam
Vietnam has a population of more than 86 million
people, and an inland surface of 33,115,000 ha.
Forest and agricultural lands, cover 44.7% and 28.4%,
respectively. The agricultural sector, including crops,
livestock, fisheries and aquaculture accounts for more
than 20% of the national GDP, 65% of employment
and 30% of export value. The agricultural sector has
a considerable influence on the national economic
growth, poverty eradication and malnutrition
elimination (GSO 2010)...
"Cultural additivity" and how the values and norms of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism co-exist, interact, and influence Vietnamese society: A Bayesian analysis of long-standing folktales, using R and Stan
Every year, the Vietnamese people reportedly burned about 50,000 tons of joss papers, which took the form of not only bank notes, but iPhones, cars, clothes, even housekeepers, in hope of pleasing the dead. The practice was mistakenly attributed to traditional Buddhist teachings but originated in fact from China, which most Vietnamese were not aware of. In other aspects of life, there were many similar examples of Vietnamese so ready and comfortable with adding new norms, values, and beliefs, even contradictory ones, to their culture. This phenomenon, dubbed âcultural additivityâ, prompted us to study the co-existence, interaction, and influences among core values and norms of the Three Teachings âConfucianism, Buddhism, and Taoismâas shown through Vietnamese folktales. By applying Bayesian logistic regression, we evaluated the possibility of whether the key message of a story was dominated by a religion (dependent variables), as affected by the appearance of values and anti-values pertaining to the Three Teachings in the story (independent variables). Our main findings included the existence of the cultural additivity of Confucian and Taoist values. More specifically, empirical results showed that the interaction or addition of the values of Taoism and Confucianism in folktales together helped predict whether the key message of a story was about Confucianism, β{VT â
VC} = 0.86. Meanwhile, there was no such statistical tendency for Buddhism. The results lead to a number of important implications. First, this showed the dominance of Confucianism because the fact that Confucian and Taoist values appeared together in a story led to the storyâs key message dominated by Confucianism. Thus, it presented the evidence of Confucian dominance and against liberal interpretations of the concept of the Common Roots of Three Religions (âtam giĂĄo Äáťng nguyĂŞnâ) as religious unification or unicity. Second, the concept of âcultural additivityâ could help explain many interesting socio-cultural phenomena, namely the absence of religious intolerance and extremism in the Vietnamese society, outrageous cases of sophistry in education, the low productivity in creative endeavors like science and technology, the misleading branding strategy in business. We are aware that our results are only preliminary and more studies, both theoretical and empirical, must be carried out to give a full account of the explanatory reach of âcultural additivityâ
Nitrogen-Functionalized Graphene Nanoflakes (GNFs:N): Tunable Photoluminescence and Electronic Structures
This study investigates the strong photoluminescence (PL) and X-ray excited
optical luminescence observed in nitrogen-functionalized 2D graphene nanoflakes
(GNFs:N), which arise from the significantly enhanced density of states in the
region of {\pi} states and the gap between {\pi} and {\pi}* states. The
increase in the number of the sp2 clusters in the form of pyridine-like N-C,
graphite-N-like, and the C=O bonding and the resonant energy transfer from the
N and O atoms to the sp2 clusters were found to be responsible for the blue
shift and the enhancement of the main PL emission feature. The enhanced PL is
strongly related to the induced changes of the electronic structures and
bonding properties, which were revealed by the X-ray absorption near-edge
structure, X-ray emission spectroscopy, and resonance inelastic X-ray
scattering. The study demonstrates that PL emission can be tailored through
appropriate tuning of the nitrogen and oxygen contents in GNFs and pave the way
for new optoelectronic devices.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures (including toc figure
Utilising biological geotextiles: Introduction to the BORASSUS project and global perspectives
Field and laboratory studies indicate that utilisation of biological geotextiles constructed from palm-leaves and other selected organic materials are an effective, sustainable and economically viable soil conservation technique. The three-year plus (1 July 2005â28 February 2009) EU-funded BORASSUS Project (contract no. INCO-CT-2005-510745) evaluated the long-term effectiveness of biological geotextiles in controlling soil erosion and assessing their sustainability and economic viability. These studies progressed in ten countries, both in the âindustrial northâ (in Europe) and in the âdeveloping southâ (Africa, South America and South East Asia). The studied countries in the âdeveloping southâ included Brazil, China, The Gambia, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam. The âindustrial northâ countries included Belgium, Hungary, Lithuania and the UK. The main findings of these studies are summarised in this paper and thematic information is presented in the other four papers in this Special Issue. Biological geotextiles offer potentially novel bioengineering solutions to environmental problems, including technologies for soil conservation, sustainable plant production and use of indigenous plants, improved ecosystem management by decreasing deforestation, improving agroforestry and cost-effective biogeotextile applications in diverse environments. Biogeotextiles may provide socio-economic platforms for sustainable development and the benefits for developing countries may include poverty alleviation, engagement of local people as stakeholders, employment for disadvantaged groups, small and medium enterprise (SME) development, earning hard currency, environmental education and local community involvement in land reclamation and environmental education programmes. These benefits are achieved through: (i) promotion of sustainable and environmentally friendly palm-agriculture to discourage deforestation, promoting both reforestation and agroforestry; (ii) construction of biogeotextiles enabling development of a rural labour-intensive industry, particularly encouraging employment of socially disadvantaged groups and (iii) export of biogeotextiles to industrialised countries could earn hard currency for developing economies, based on the principles of fair trade. Research and development activities of the BORASSUS Project have improved our knowledge on the effect of biogeotextile mats on the micro- and macro-soil environments and at larger scales through controlled laboratory and field experiments in diverse environments
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New technologies to improve healthcare in low- and middle-income countries: Global Grand Challenges satellite event, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Ho Chi Minh City, 17th-18th September 2019
We report the outputs of a satellite event in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, organized as part of the "2 nd Global Grand Challenges of Engineering Summit". The event considered challenges and potential solutions for improving low- and middle-income country (LMIC) healthcare systems, with particular reference to critical care. Participants from key regional and local stakeholders in healthcare and engineering discussed how new advances in technology, especially in the field of Artificial Intelligence, could be of potential benefit. This article summarizes the perspectives and conclusions of a group of key stakeholders from LMICs across South and South East Asia
Associations of Underlying Health Conditions With Anxiety and Depression Among Outpatients: Modification Effects of Suspected COVID-19 Symptoms, Health-Related and Preventive Behaviors
Objectives: We explored the association of underlying health conditions (UHC) with depression and anxiety, and examined the modification effects of suspected COVID-19 symptoms (S-COVID-19-S), health-related behaviors (HB), and preventive behaviors (PB).Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 8,291 outpatients aged 18â85 years, in 18 hospitals and health centers across Vietnam from 14th February to May 31, 2020. We collected the data regarding participant's characteristics, UHC, HB, PB, depression, and anxiety.Results: People with UHC had higher odds of depression (OR = 2.11; p < 0.001) and anxiety (OR = 2.86; p < 0.001) than those without UHC. The odds of depression and anxiety were significantly higher for those with UHC and S-COVID-19-S (p < 0.001); and were significantly lower for those had UHC and interacted with âunchanged/moreâ physical activity (p < 0.001), or âunchanged/moreâ drinking (p < 0.001 for only anxiety), or âunchanged/healthierâ eating (p < 0.001), and high PB score (p < 0.001), as compared to those without UHC and without S-COVID-19-S, ânever/stopped/lessâ physical activity, drinking, âless healthyâ eating, and low PB score, respectively.Conclusion: S-COVID-19-S worsen psychological health in patients with UHC. Physical activity, drinking, healthier eating, and high PB score were protective factors
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